Rockhampton Folk Festival
Charity Number 1201317
Annual Report of the Trustees for the year ending 31 December 2025
Our Aims
Our charity was established in December 2022 as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation. As defined in our governing document our Charitable Objects are :
FOR THE PUBLIC BENEFIT, TO ADVANCE THE EDUCATION OF THE GENERAL PUBLIC IN, AND TO PROMOTE THEIR APPRECIATION OF MUSIC AND PERFORMING ARTS, BY MEANS OF, BUT NOT EXCLUSIVELY:
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THE PROVISION OF AN ANNUAL MUSIC FESTIVAL AND OTHER ASSOCIATED EVENTS;
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THE PROVISION OF GRANTS TO INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANISATIONS FURTHERING THE SAME PURPOSE.
Our Activities and Impact
This year we successfully delivered activities that furthered all of our charitable aims.
Our main activity was the Rockhampton Festival held in June. Over 600 people enjoyed a wide range of music and dance acts and participation workshops. Highlights included Mundi Dance who brought the dance of their African homeland to our festival, songwriter and outreach artist Kitty Stewart, The Schmoozenbergs, Karen Pfeiffer and Paul Walker, traditional bagpiping and dancing to Bavarian oom-pah music to bring things to a close.
We made our festival inclusive and promoted participation by the widest possible range of people. We encouraged refugees, low-income families and carers to the festival with reduced price or free entry.
We believe participation in creative activity is good for the soul. It lifts the spirit and helps communities bond. The festival site was a safe, accessible, family-friendly environment that allows people to mix with each other. Visitors had the chance to join participation workshops, which helped to promote their education and appreciation of the performing arts. They had the opportunity to try new things and meet and get to know the performers.
By choosing young and emerging artists we help reduce the barriers to a cultural career that face musicians and artists starting in their career.
Our activities are built on an ethos of sustainability and 'treading lightly' on our environment. We insisted that our food suppliers at the festival did not use single-use plastics, and we estimate
over 90% of our waste was recycled. We use local businesses as suppliers, to reduce travel and carbon footprint.
Our collaboration with the local BBC and Thornbury Radio stations outlets ensured that our charitable work gained good publicity in the local area which also helped to further our charity objectives of promoting the appreciation of the performing arts.
We expanded our outreach programme, funding the most concerts yet, reaching an estimated 1500+ people. We targeted groups who might otherwise not have the opportunity to engage in creative participation - special needs schools, care homes, dementia support groups, groups for adults with learning difficulties etc. We also supported Noga Ritter to return to our community to give outreach concerts later in the year. All these events were hugely popular and received excellent feedback, showing how they are highly successful in delivering our charitable aims.
This year we also delivered our first Music Tuition Grants, something we have wanted to do since beginning the charity. These are intended to help reduce the financial barriers to young people learning music. This year we gave £3086 through grants of up to £500 to individuals and organisations. Recipients were selected through a transparent process judging the difference a grant would make to them and their commitment to music. We focused on recipients in our local area and schools.
Our Governance
At the conclusion of this year there were three trustees. These are the original trustees with whom the CIO was formed in December 2022.
Christopher White-Horne
Nicola Woodward
Elizabeth Curtis
All Trustees give of their time freely and no remuneration or expenses were paid for their activities as Trustees in the year.
With the approval of the trustees Nicola Woodward was in receipt of payments totalling £657 from the charity for her work to deliver music tuition through our grant scheme. Trustees are satisfied that this did not represent a conflict of interest and the payment rates were equivalent to those paid to all of our grant recipients.
Our Finances
At the start of the year Trustees set an annual budget for the charity which aimed to ensure that our main activities – the music festival and associated outreach programme can be delivered successfully and not make a loss. When sufficient cash reserves exist our policy is to disburse any excess by funding outreach events and music tuition grants. This is why our expenditure exceeded our income by £1201 this year.
The budget for the year was set based on actual costs from previous festivals and prudent estimates based on our experience of managing the budgets for other public artistic events.
Income was mainly receipts from the festival, with additional contribution from donations.
Expenditure was a combination of the costs of delivering the festival and our outreach performances, for example fees for performers and our new music tuition grant scheme.
Trustees recognise the need to maintain a cash reserve to ensure the future financial sustainability of the charity. With a cash reserve at the end of year of £16,427 the Trustees are confident the charity remains a going concern.
Risks were identified, managed and mitigated by trustees during the year, in a prudent way. The major risks are mitigated by comprehensive event and liability insurance.
Approved by the Trustees 5 March 2026
Rockhampton Folk Festival
Charity Number 1201317
Statement of Financial Activities and Accounts for the year ending 31 December 2025
The charity trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011.
It is not required to conduct an independent examination of the accounts due to the level of our turnover. However, we confirm that the accounts give a true and fair view and that there are no other matters to which attention should be drawn to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
All funds are Unrestricted.
| Income | Year ending 31 Dec 25 |
Year ending 31 Dec 24 |
Year ending 31 Dec 23 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grants and Donations | 3,932.67 | 2,187.70 | 716.00 |
| Other Trading Activities Tickets Catering |
7,861.54 3,473.80 |
7,686.20 3,658.13 |
5,618.72 2,623.92 |
| Investment Income Interest |
42.71 | 82.06 | 61.54 |
| TOTAL | 15,310.72 | 13,614.09 | 9,020.18 |
| Expenditure | Year ending 31 Dec 25 |
Year ending 31 Dec 24 |
Year ending 31 Dec 23 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grants Given | 3,086.12 | 80.00 | 371.00 |
| Operating Costs Marketing Performers Catering Costs Insurance Festival Site Services Materials |
420.61 6,450.00 1,407.72 821.05 3,119.96 295.00 911.80 |
247.39 4,661.01 2,142.87 542.53 3,071.99 400.00 813.42 |
994.91 3,839.40 1,374.56 534.08 2,474.00 330.00 591.07 |
| TOTAL | 16,512.26 | 11,959.21 | 10,509.02 |
Reconciliation of Funds
| Total Funds Brought Forward on 1 Jan 2025 | 17,629.30 |
|---|---|
| Net Income minus Expenditure |
-1,201.54 |
| Total Funds Carried Forward on 31 Dec 2024 | 16,427.76 |
Balance Sheet
As at 31 December 2025
Cash at Bank £16,427.76